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MARCO RUBIO

Marco Antonio Rubio

    Marco Rubio is a Republican U.S. senator elected in 2010 to represent Florida. He defeated Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, an independent candidate, and U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, a Democratic candidate, in an unusual three-way Senate race. Rubio previously served in the Florida House of Representatives, including two years as House Speaker.

    Marco Rubio was born in Miami on May 28, 1971, his parents both Cuban exiles. He graduated from the University of Florida and the University of Miami Law School. He and his wife, Jeanette Dousdebes-Rubio, live in West Miami with their four children.

    • IN THE NEWS

    1. Premiums rising for national flood program, though Florida pales in payouts

      06/15/13 BankingBy Jeff Harrington, Times Staff Writer

      Florida didn't trigger the financial crisis within the National Flood Insurance Program.

      Of the nation’s top 10 flood-claim events since 1978, only one, Hurricane Ivan, caused heavy damage in Florida. An aerial photo of Chanticleer near the Alabama border shows some of the aftermath.

    2. Miami's Leon Fresco: The immigration mover and shaker you don't know

      06/15/13 State Roundup McClatchy Newspapers

      WASHINGTON — While Sen. Marco Rubio may be among the most prominent faces of the immigration battle in Washington, there is another Cuban-American from Miami who has been almost as critical to guiding the contentious proposal through the perils of Capitol Hill.

      His name is Leon Fresco.

      Leon Fresco talks with Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., in the senator’s Capitol Hill office this week.

    3. Jeb Bush highlights immigration battle of GOP establishment vs. newcomers

      06/13/13 NationalBy Alex Leary, Times Washington Bureau Chief

      WASHINGTON — Former Govs. Haley Barbour and Jeb Bush, the folksy pol from Mississippi and the policy wonk from Florida, sat next to each other Thursday pitching immigration reform as vital for the economic future of an aging country.

    4. Sen. Marco Rubio pushes stronger English language requirement in immigration bill

      06/12/13 NationalBy Alex Leary, Times Washington Bureau Chief

      WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio has talked a lot about adding more border security to the immigration bill, but his first proposed amendment seeks to toughen an English proficiency requirement.

    5. Marco Rubio's immigration reform balancing act rubbing some the wrong way

      06/06/13 NationalBy Alex Leary, Times Washington Bureau Chief

      WASHINGTON — Sen. Marco Rubio has for months positioned himself as the focus of the immigration debate, the reason why a bill has gotten as far as it has. But now he has managed to create an aura of mystery: Is he on board or not?

    6. Sen. Marco Rubio, in Tampa, says controversies have 'shaken' him

      05/18/13 State Roundup By Adam C. Smith, Times Political Editor

      TAMPA — Sen. Marco Rubio's efforts to reform immigration may be drawing skepticism from many conservatives. But scandals facing the White House have allowed him to shift his message back to the one that made him a star in the first place: The threat to America posed by excessive government.

      Sen. Marco Rubio headlines the Hillsborough County Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Day Dinner on Saturday night at the the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay. “Marco is moving from being a Republican leader to an American leader,” said a Republican consultant.

    7. Cutoff date in immigration bill would leave many in shadows

      05/18/13 NationalBy Alex Leary, Times Washington Bureau Chief

      WASHINGTON — Huber David Hernandez got a surprising phone call from a friend a few months ago. Congress is working on immigration reform, she said, and it would benefit both of us.

      U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel walk along a section of the recently constructed fence at the U.S.-Mexico border on Feb. 26 in Nogales, Ariz. A wide-ranging immigration bill being debated in the Senate provides a pathway to citizenship for some 11 million undocumented immigrants but excludes people who arrived in the United States illegally after Dec. 31, 2011.  Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee plan to offer amendments this week that would make the cutoff either when the bill was introduced, April 17, or when it is enacted. The 1986 bill had a cutoff of 1982, but the number of undocumented residents only swelled over the years, the result of many factors including lax border security.

    8. Rubio's financial disclosure shows $800,000 book advance

      05/16/13 PoliticsBy Alex Leary, Times Washington Bureau Chief

      WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who likes to joke in speeches that his book An American Son is available on Amazon, earned $800,000 off it in 2012, his newly filed financial disclosure shows.

      Sen. Marco Rubio used part of his $800,000 advance to write An American Son, part biography and part political document, to pay off more than $100,000 in college loan debt. Rubio’s book deal also calls for royalty payments of 15 percent of sales of the hardcover edition, 7.5 percent to 10 percent of paperback (due out May 28) and 25 percent of audio editions.

    9. Florida delegation proves real immigration fight looms in House

      05/08/13 NationalBy Alex Leary, Times Washington Bureau Chief

      WASHINGTON — The Senate immigration bill will be fed through the grinder today when scores of amendments, from adding rights for gay couples to even more border security, are considered. It's a crucial start to a process Sen. Marco Rubio and the rest of the Gang of 8 hope will lead to broad support for immigration …

      Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., arrives at the Senate chamber for a vote Monday. One of the immigration bill’s authors, Rubio has already acknowledged that the bill will face a tough road to passage if the border security elements are not improved.

    10. At Rubio's urging, Florida election reform bill ends early presidential primary

      05/03/13 ElectionsBy Marc Caputo and Michael Van Sickler, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau

      TALLAHASSEE — U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio persuaded state lawmakers Friday to make a last-minute change eliminating Florida's early presidential primary — in which the Republican could be on the ballot.

      Sen. Marco Rubio wants to be sure Florida’s 2016 presidential primary counts. He could be on the Republican ballot.